Paul Petch

It’s cold and I want my single speed

It’s officially the start of the Kiwi autumn with crisp days and nights (cold) and with leaves falling to the ground and earthy colours and smells, it is quite magical. The thing is, that after not experiencing temperatures of 2 degs over night (or less) in a very long time (try 8+ yrs) it’s feeling somewhat nippy :)

The ride to work in the morning already requires my wind block jacket and ski gloves…… which is quite novel :) and night rides are seeing the wardrobe being ransacked for kit I forgot I had! The past few days in particular have been very wet and cold, with some snow (!!) above 700m (Port Hills) which has knocked my Wife and I about a little. It seems that most houses in Christchurch have only one main heater- usually in the living room…. so this weekend we have been found dressed in layers and a fleece with duvet, wool socks and hot water bottles huddled together on the sofa :) Walking out of this room felt like we were stepping into a chiller room… with comic like steamy breath!!! It seems that we will require a little adjustment from the average temperatures downunder for this time of year of 15+ degs. But seriously- I’m loving it! but my wife Amy is not to happy….. as witnessed when I arrived home from work tonight to see water bottles being worn as clothing :D

Anyway, back to some riding news. Due to severe rain yesterday I never got a chance to fit in my weekend spin to Port Hills so after getting home from work this evening I wrapped up and headed out for a night ride at Bottlelake Park. Craig and John were otherwise preoccupied so solo it was. It was wet and cold out there and after one awesome lap or two I had to call it a night….. I was soaked to the bone and getting very cold. I’m now having to seriously get my head into the fact that my gear just does not work in the wet and cold here…. so I’ll be ordering some goodies from Ground Effect here in Christchurch in the next day or so. I’m also going to get a pair of Seal Skinz- the infamous waterproof and windproof socks from the UK! (my bloody feet were soaked and freeeezing tonight!)

Another thing I am going to do is get the single speed ready for the wet days/ nights too- with mud tyres and mud guards…. as I cannot let the sandy soil of Bottle Lake wear my beloved Cove away as witnessed tonight. It was screaming out there with the drive train grinding and skipping…… a sorry sight indeed. Another bonus of running a single speed in the wet too, is that I can just throw is in the corner after a ride and deal with washing down the next day… and with a bit of chain lube it is good as gold to go again.

I must say though, it was magical out there alone tonight with no one else on the trails. With my iPod pumping I was loving carving through the pine forest singletrack. Yes I was cold- but if i kept those cranks turning, I was warm (ish). The funny thing is that Craig and I rode there during the day on Thursday and I must say, I prefer the trails at night….. it’s quite magical. Once I get the wet and cold weather gear sorted.. I’ll be larrrrfing.

So there you have it….. my wet riding plan is some toasty goodies from Ground Effect and the single speed. Welcome Mr. Winter lets rock! :)

Oh…. and the Christchurch night winter race series starts at Bottlelake this week coming…… so I may give it a go (with my term of race being having a laugh and meeting some more mtbers!).

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4. Single speed riding – an introduction
5. Kona Unit 29er – my first single speed

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Bike Stuff and tagged with bottlelake, cove, gear, single speed, weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.